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THE IEN WEEKLY CONNECTION
Entrepreneurship ~ Innovation ~ Technology
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September 27, 2010
In Today’s Connection:
§ PROFITCENTS WEBINAR FOR THE ILLINOIS SBDC ON OCTOBER 13TH
§ MANUFACTURE AMERICA CONFERENCE - ARLINGTON HEIGHTS on 10-20-10
§ COLLECTING EMPLOYER TAXES ON TIPS - IRS PHONE FORUM on 9-29-10
§ IEN PROGRAM SUCCESS OF THE WEEK - PRESERVATION BREAD AND WINE
§ GETTING THE MOST OUT OF WEBCATS
§ WEBSITE OF THE WEEK- WWW.SBA.GOV/ADVO/RESEARCH/RS371TOT.PDF
§ RESOURCE OF THE WEEK - SBA OFFICE OF ADVOCACY FAQs
§ WHAT'S NEW ON CENTERCONNECT
§ DISASTER ASSISTANCE AND RECOVERY PROJECT UPDATES
§ MOVES AND NEWS
PROFITCENTS WEBINAR FOR THE ILLINOIS SBDC ON OCTOBER 13TH
Sageworks, Inc., the providers of the ProfitCents financial analysis tool, is offering a free webinar for the Center Directors and Business Advisors of the Illinois SBDC on Wednesday, October 13th at 10am. This session will include product training, strategic thinking and collaboration of best practices as you look to strengthen your knowledge base of the ProfitCents tool. This webinar will be presented by Shawn Moriarity and Dustin Lubertazzi, the two ProfitCents Advisors assigned to assist the Illinois SBDC.
Access to ProfitCents has been purchased for all Illinois SBDCs and has been renewed through May 2011. This one hour webinar is an opportunity for those familiar with ProfitCents to use as a refresher and also great for those who are new and may not be familiar with this financial analysis resource and how it can help you assist your clients.
Information about how to access this webinar will be provided in the near future. Please save October 13th at 10am and plan to join us for this webinar.
MANUFACTURE AMERICA CONFERENCE - ARLINGTON HEIGHTS on 10-20-10
On Wednesday, October 20th, the International Trade Administration (ITA) is holding the Chicagoland “Manufacture America” Regional Conference in Arlington Heights. The full-day conference, co-sponsored by the Workforce Investment Board of Northern Cook County, is open to all businesses at no charge.
Topics include:
· Access to Capital
· Federal and State Tax Incentives for Business Growth
· Finding New Growth Opportunities / Exporting Services
· Workforce Retraining Incentives
· Innovation and Product Development
· Sustainable Manufacturing: Resources for Waste Reduction and Lean and Green
For more information go to www.trade.gov/manufactureamerica/regionalevents/chicago/index.asp
COLLECTING EMPLOYER TAXES ON TIPS - IRS PHONE FORUM SEPTEMBER 29TH
Sponsored by the IRS Small Business/Self Employed; Communications, Liaison and Disclosure
Meeting: Collecting Employer Taxes on Tips Date: September 29, 2010 Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Your home or office Contact: E-mail:
Event Information: This FREE broadcast is for: Tax Professionals / Small Businesses (Food and Beverage Establishments) / Payroll Providers
Learn the aspects of collecting the employer's share of employment taxes on tips that employees report on their Form 4137, Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income including:
The purpose of Form 4137 / How the IRS can use Form 4137 to determine employment taxes due
Details about the IRS compliance project to determine employment taxes
What employers can expect if they are contacted under the project
To register for this event, visit the Internal Revenue Service Webinar Registration Web site.
If you experience difficulty viewing the event, please use the e-mail option on the event page or call (866) 956-4770. The event will be archived for later viewing, approximately two weeks after the date of the event, on the new IRS Video Portal.
IEN PROGRAM SUCCESS OF THE WEEK - PRESERVATION BREAD AND WINE
Preservation Bread & Wine in Geneva, is the culmination of years of planning by Lawrence and Rebecca Colburn. Lawrence was a professional artist in Germany. After coming to Chicago in 2005, he completed his third level certification through the International Sommelier Guild and worked as restaurant manager and sommelier at One Sixty Blue in Chicago. Rebecca Colburn attended French pastry school in Chicago, and was the bakery manager at Blue Sky Bakery in Albany Park.
The Colburns had been traveling to Geneva on day trips with their kids, and loved the European feel of the town. When they walked in to 513 South Third Street, they knew it was the place for their business. The name, Preservation Bread & Wine, is central to their business concept. The main goal for the café and wine bar is to preserve traditional preparation methods and use real, seasonal, fresh ingredients as the focus of the menu. Bread is incorporated in almost every item on the menu.
"The Illinois Small Business Development Center at Waubonsee Community College has been an integral part of the planning and execution of the financial and background planning for our business," states Rebecca. "We knew what we wanted to do, but the information, spreadsheets and advice we received really helped put the numbers into perspective. The assistance with the business plan was immeasurable."
Preservation Bread & Wine opened in June 2010, and is already seeing a tremendous response from the community. Lawrence's art adorns the walls, complementing the décor and the menu.
GETTING THE MOST OUT OF WEBCATS
We hope that all of you are already familiar with the Congressional and Legislative District Locator feature on the Illinois State Board of Elections website. This is a quick and easy way for you to identify the Illinois and U.S., House and Senate districts of your clients. Having accurate information put into the WebCATS system is critical when we provide economic impact data to your members of Congress. They have created a page that allows you to enter just the 9 digit zip code of your client to find this information, without having to enter the entire address into several fields on the site. To check out this feature of the District Locator, please click on: http://www.elections.il.gov/DistrictLocator/DistrictOfficialSearchByAddress.aspx and click on the "ByZip+4" tab.
WEBSITE OF THE WEEK- WWW.SBA.GOV/ADVO/RESEARCH/RS371TOT.PDF
The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms - Small businesses still face a disproportionate burden when it comes to costs of federal regulations, compared to larger firms according to a study released today by the Office of Advocacy. The report titled The Impact of Regulatory Costs on Small Firms (http://www.sba.gov/advo/research/rs371tot.pdf) , was released and presented by its author W. Mark Crain at the Office of Advocacy’s symposium celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Regulatory Flexibility Act.
The purpose of the study was to look at the overall cost of federal regulation on small business, not to evaluate the benefits of federal regulations. Today’s findings are consistent with previous studies on this topic conducted by the Office of
Advocacy.
Small businesses still face higher costs when they encounter government regulations compared to larger firms. This report shows that on a per employee basis it costs small firms $2,830 more than larger firms to comply with government regulations. That is a 36% difference and that is an unfair burden to place on American small business.
The cost of environmental regulations appear to be the main driver when determining the severity of the disproportionate impact on small firms. Compliance with environmental regulations costs 364 percent more in small firms than in large firms. The cost of tax compliance is 206 percent higher in small firms than the cost in large firms.
This report details the distribution of regulatory costs for five major sectors of the U.S. economy: manufacturing, trade (wholesale and retail), services, health care, and other (a residual category containing all enterprises not included in the other four). The sector-specific findings reveal that the disproportionate cost burden on small firms is particularly stark for the
manufacturing sector. In addition the “other” category also indicates a high level of disproportionality between small and large firms. The compliance cost per employee for small manufacturers is more than double the compliance cost for medium-sized and large firms. In the service sector, regulatory costs differ little between small businesses and larger firms. The distribution of the regulatory burden across firm sizes in the other major business sectors falls somewhere between these two cases.
For more information and a complete copy of the report, visit the Office of Advocacy website at www.sba.gov/advo.
RESOURCE OF THE WEEK - SBA OFFICE OF ADVOCACY FAQs
What is a small business? How many small businesses are there? What share of net new jobs do small businesses create? These are questions the Office of Advocacy receives on a daily basis. To respond to these and other pressing queries, Advocacy has updated its Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ). The one-pager, front and back, is begging to be push-pinned to workspaces for anyone who wants a quick reference guide on the status and role of small businesses in America. But not to leave you hanging. . . Advocacy usually defines a firm as small if it has fewer than 500 employees; 27.5 million
businesses were estimated for 2009 and almost all were small; and smalls create 65 percent of the net new jobs.
The Frequently Asked Questions is located at: http://www.sba.gov/advo/stats/sbfaq.pdf.
If you need further information, please feel free to contact Brian Headd at: (202) 205-6533 or .
** To sign up for Advocacy updates via RSS feed, visit: http://www.sba.gov/advo/whatsnew.xml **
WHAT'S NEW ON CENTERCONNECT
The August 2010 IEN statistics report is now on CenterConnect. This report includes not only the August Monthly numbers, but includes statistics from both State Fiscal Year 2011 to date figures as well as Calendar Year 2010 accomplishments. You will find this report in the right hand column of the CenterConnect main page.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE AND RECOVERY PROJECT UPDATES
We would like to thank the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Western Illinois University in Macomb for providing the information below on their activities in the Disaster Assistance and Recovery Project. This update is from their quarterly report for the period including June through August, 2010
ACTIVITY FROM JUNE 1, 2010 – AUGUST 31, 2010
· Advocacy/promotion of the ISBDC/WIU disaster preparedness/business continuity services available through workshops and individual business counseling:
o 6-3-10 planning session with director of the Historic Quincy Business District and the manager of the Quincy Mall to strategize ways to encourage business owners to work with the ISBDC in considering disaster planning and preparation of a business continuity plan
o 6-10-10 presentation at Lamoine Valley Human Resources Association (Macomb area) monthly meeting
o 6-14-10 presentation at Industrial Association of Quincy annual meeting
o 7-20-10 discussion at Economic Development Network meeting for Galesburg and regional partners
o 8-3-10 discussion with Director of Spoon River Economic Development (Canton & Fulton County)
o 8-20-10 discussion with Knox County Extension staff about continuation of disaster preparedness workshops in Galesburg area -- particularly customization of workshop presentation for special interest groups
o 8-27-10 presentation at Rural Economic Development Consortium (Quincy & Adams County) monthly meeting
o Routine promotion when conducting individual counseling sessions
· Training events and activity
o initial planning for ReadyBusiness workshops using national Extension curriculum for additional workshops in Quincy, Macomb, and Galesburg during October
o contacted presenter Rick Atterberry, University of Illinois, to set dates. See proposed activity comments.
· Counseling activity
o ISBDC counselors continue to use disaster preparedness brochures and training materials in counseling new and existing clients about the importance of disaster preparedness and availability of ISBDC assistance in developing a business continuity plan.
o Ted Bartlett, ISBDC contractual counselor, is personally canvassing businesses in communities throughout the ISBDC 12-county service area to discuss business continuity planning.
PROPOSED ACTIVITY
· The ISBDC will hold three additional ReadyBusiness workshops with University of Illinois instructor Rick Atterberry.
Schedule for the 2.5 hour evening workshops:
o October 26 Quincy
o October 27 Macomb
o October 28 Galesburg
· Counseling efforts will continue.
MOVES AND NEWS
Congratulations to Kwa Mister, Director of the Illinois Small Business Development Center at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville. Kwa was selected to be the "2010 Illinois SBDC State Star". On Friday, September 24th at the national Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) Conference in San Antonio, Kwa and the other SBDC State Stars were recognized at a reception. Congratulations to Kwa and thank you for your hard work on behalf of the Illinois SBDC and small businesses in Southwestern Illinois.
“Providing Guidance for Business Growth"
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The WEEKLY CONNECTION is distributed by the Illinois SBDC and the DCEO Office of
Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology each Monday to the members of the DCEO
Illinois Entrepreneurship Network to provide these service delivery partners with regular
updates on small business issues, opportunities and resources. Please forward this update
to any other interested resource providers and key stakeholders. www.ilsbdc.biz
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